College football: Former St. John's star Richard Rodgers embracing new position at Cal

Cal junior Richard Rodgers seems to be adjusting just fine to his new/old position.

Rodgers was a wide receiver at St. John's High, where he caught 40 career touchdown passes and led the Pioneers to a Super Bowl title as a senior, but the Bears recruited him as a tight end, and that's where Rodgers lined up each of the last two seasons.

First-year Cal coach Sonny Dykes' offense doesn't feature a tight end, so this season Rodgers switched to receiver — he's lining up in the slot — and last week against Portland State, he caught the go-ahead 75-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jared Goff with 7:58 left in the third quarter. Rodgers finished with four receptions for 100 yards in the Bears' 37-30 win.

"We came out as an offense and put up some points," Rodgers said this week from Berkeley. "I had a couple catches, our offensive line did a great job. Our whole success depends on how well they play. They did a great job up front, and obviously the score shows that."

Rodgers had four catches for 38 yards in Cal's season-opening loss to Northwestern. The Bears host fourth-ranked Ohio State Saturday.

Rodgers played in every game as a true freshman in 2011, and before last season, former Cal coach Jeff Tedford touted Rodgers as one of the best tight ends in the country. Rodgers played in 11 games with six starts and finished third on the team in receiving yards. He had his breakout game against UCLA, hauling in seven receptions for 129 yards.

Rodgers dealt with foot and shoulder injuries for much of last season. He had shoulder surgery in December.

Tedford was fired in November, and Dykes was hired a couple weeks later.

Dykes had a role in his offense in mind for Rodgers, who dedicated himself to getting it.

"The new coaches wanted me to lose weight so I could play inside receiver," said the 6-foot-4 Rodgers, who played at about 275 pounds last season, "just so I could be faster and more agile. I had to do that if I wanted to play, so that's what I did."

After his four-month recovery from the shoulder surgery, Rodgers missed spring ball but soon resumed his usual offseason football workouts and played pickup basketball for extra exercise. Rodgers, you may remember, was also a standout hoops player at St. John's.

The real key to losing the weight, Rodgers said, was eliminating candy from his diet. He used to snack on Red Vines and Sour Patch Kids constantly.

"Candy," Rodgers said with a laugh, "that's my big thing."

By the start of the season, Rodgers was looking and feeling great at 245 pounds.

"It's been good," he said. "I'm running routes and doing everything like I used to. It hasn't been a huge adjustment, but it's definitely been for the better."

Rodgers came to Cal with professional aspirations, and that goal hasn't changed.

"That's definitely something I would want to do," he said. "I haven't thought about leaving early or anything like that, but I definitely want to pursue a pro career if I can."

SanDoval fully healed

Holy Cross fifth-year linebacker Roman SanDoval missed the first half of training camp as he wound down his recovery from foot surgery, but since being back on the field, he has progressed quickly and through two games is HC's leading tackler.

SanDoval ranked second on the team last year with 75 tackles. He suffered a lisfranc (midfoot) injury late in the season and missed two games. He likely started winter workouts a little too soon, the injury worsened, and he needed surgery midway through the spring semester.

SanDoval has been participating in all drills for about the last two weeks.

"For a guy with just a couple weeks of practice, he's playing remarkably well," HC coach Tom Gilmore said. "He's progressed very, very quickly, and I think he's basically full-go."

SanDoval has 15 total tackles, including 13 solo stops and one tackle for loss. He made a couple of red-zone tackles in last week's loss to Towson.

Next up for Holy Cross (0-2) is Central Connecticut State. The Crusaders face the Blue Devils for the first time at 6 p.m. Saturday in New Britain, Conn.

Central Conn., a member of the Northeast Conference like Bryant, HC's Week 1 opponent, is coming off a double-overtime loss to No. 19 Lehigh.

For the third straight week, Holy Cross will face a strong running attack. Against Lehigh, CCSU junior Rob Holloman, who was named the NEC Offensive Player of the Week, racked up 253 all-purpose yards, including 160 rushing yards. Holy Cross allowed a 100-yard rusher (as well as a 100-yard receiver) in each of its first two games.

"We'll be challenged with what they do on both sides of the ball," Gilmore said.

It looks like junior Ryan Laughlin will get his second straight start at quarterback. Junior Steven Elder continues to deal with a foot injury, though he did work out early this week with HC trainers.

Accolades for Bumpus

Worcester State junior quarterback Kevin Bumpus, who passed for a school-record 427 yards in the Lancers' season-opening win over Anna Maria, collected some awards this week.

Bumpus, who threw four touchdown passes, was the recipient of the Division 2-3 Gold Helmet Award. He is the first Worcester State player to win the award since Izzy Ayala in 2004. Bumpus was also named MASCAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Teammate Bryan Narcisse was named MASCAC Defensive Player of the Week. The junior defensive lineman totaled 13 tackles and made four sacks against the AmCats.

The Lancers host WPI at 7 tonight.

The Engineers are coming off a 48-28 win over Curry in their opener.

Rimsky, Baker honored

Also recognized this week was Nichols senior wide receiver Dylan Rimsky, who set school records with 14 receptions and 290 yards in the Bison's 28-27 win over Westfield State. Rimsky was named NEFC Offensive Player of the Week and joined Bumpus on the D3football.com Team of the Week.

Becker senior quarterback Robert Baker was named ECFC Offensive Player of the Week. He threw for 206 yards and four touchdowns and led the Hawks on the winning drive late in the fourth quarter against Fitchburg State.

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